Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism

How did Berthe Morisot grow as an artist over the course of the 1860s and 1870s? How does Smee use her experiences to explore some of the gender roles and gender dynamics at play in the Parisian art world?

How did class impact Berthe and Édouard’s political tendencies and beliefs? How did it impact their artwork?

As described by Sebastian Smee, how was the siege of Paris during the war of 1870 similar to the attack on the city by the Versaillais during the Paris Commune? How were they distinct?

Manet had tense relationships with many other artists, including Degas, Courbet, and Meissonier. Describe the nature of these tensions. How does Smee explore the nature of artistic competition and rivalry through these connections?

How does Smee use secondary figures like Léon Gambetta, Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, and/or Adolphe Thiers in his historical narrative? What is their wider significance?

To what extent is the city of Paris itself a character in Paris in Ruins? How does Smee attempt to create a vivid sense of setting for readers?

How does Smee’s narration and literary techniques mark Paris in Ruins as a work of popular history instead of an academic one? What are the strengths and limitations of his narrative approach?

Consider the book’s treatment of smaller human details in its account of the Terrible Year. What do these details add to the narrative? Do they detract from it in any way? Why or why not?